Arts News

Sound of Music's Maria to be cast via reality show

By Amy Somensky Apr 4, 2006, 4:53 GMT

London: BBC 1 will run a reality show titled, "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria," to find the star of Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian's upcoming West End production of The Sound of Music. The program, hosted by Graham Norton, will feature 10 contestants who will go through a series of auditions and performances in front of a panel of experts, only to have their fate decided by the public. The audience will vote for their favorite who will eventually go on to star in the musical. During each live show, the woman with the lowest number of votes will have the chance to sing once more for Lloyd Webber, who will have just one oppurtunity to save one from elimination. Open auditions for the ten finalists will be held in Belfast, Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh, and London where unknown and exisiting professionals are invited to attend. Lloyd Webber said in a statemnent, "I have always had a passion for discovering and nurturing new talent and this will be a fantastic opportunity for a young artist to become a real star. I'm particularly pleased that, for the first time, the search will be open to everybody. Never before have young musical theatre performers had such an opportunity to show their talents on primetime television."David Ian said in a statement, "As a theatre producer, I know the hard work that goes into musical theatre and how very important it is to keep finding new talent for these starring roles. I'm thrilled to be working with the BBC on this national search—we really are looking for someone special." The show will be aired later this year and will include pre-recorded audition shows, live shows, and a results show. Money generated by the show's phone voting will go towards a fund for young musical theater hopefuls.The Sound of Music is set to run this fall at the London Palladium.